Malloy Proposes Widening I-84, Danbury Rail Extension

Malloy: 'People have to decide if we want a first-in-class transportation system'

DANBURY — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy brought his pitch for a massive statewide transportation initiative to the city Thursday, saying 5 miles of I-84 need to be widened and the Metro-North branch should be extended to New Milford.

The governor still isn't specifying how Connecticut would pay for an expansive list of improvements to its highways, transit systems, ports, freight rail lines and airports, but stressed that levying tolls isn't the only option.

Simply leaving the infrastructure to slowly decay carries a cost, he cautioned.

Rush hour delays on highways waste dozens of hours a year for Connecticut commuters, Malloy said at a press conference at the Exit 2 rest area. Major employers in Greater Hartford, New Haven and Fairfield County have said for years that traffic congestion badly hurts their businesses.

Before his budget address in mid-February, Malloy will present a 30-year plan for bringing Connecticut's transportation network up to date.

"We'll put out a vision of what it will be, and we'll see if people want to make the investment or continue to complain as a sporting activity," Malloy said. "People have to decide if we want a first-in-class transportation system."

Malloy's administration is looking to build bipartisan support and get industries, retailers, labor, commuter organizations and average taxpayers behind the idea.

He's traveled to New Haven, New London and Stamford to talk about the specifics of what they need, and his Danbury talk focused on expanding I-84, upgrading service on Metro-North's Danbury branch and running trains as far north as New Milford. Those ideas drew praise from Republican state Rep. Gail Lavielle of Wilton, who serves on the General Assembly's transportation committee and frequently lobbies colleagues on behalf of better Danbury branch service.

NEW HAVEN — The state is spending nearly $2 billion for the massive reconstruction of the Quinnipiac River bridge here, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy came to the city Tuesday to promote much smaller projects — improving bicycle and pedestrian lanes.

As his administration is preparing a decades-long,...

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"I applaud the governor for thinking big and thinking long-term," Lavielle said after listening to Malloy. "This is just about the most important thing going on in our state this year. We have to get people engaged in this discussion — we have to give it our best shot."

Decades of putting off work have caught up with Connecticut, Malloy said, echoing a theme that commuter and transit advocates have been promoting at the Capitol for years.

The multibillion-dollar I-84 viaduct replacement in Hartford is perhaps the best-known example of what's needed, according to transportation planners, followed by the I-84 and Route 8 interchange in Waterbury, the Gold Star Bridge in New London, and the century-old Metro-North swing bridges along the shoreline.

Malloy said widening the 5-mile stretch of I-84 between exits 3 and 8 belongs on the same list. Ultimately, the entire highway needs at least three lanes in each direction, he said. In some areas, it has just two.

"When I was a kid, that was OK. Now it carries about 125,000 vehicles a day, and it's backed up for substantial times," he said. "In the nice weather, on Thursdays and Fridays [in Danbury] it's tied up for substantial portions of the entire afternoon."

Transportation Commissioner James Redeker stressed that the 30-year plan would also cover upgrades to Connecticut's freight rail network, its general aviation and commercial airports and its deep-water seaports.

Malloy said public-private partnerships and alternative financing mechanisms are among the ways that the state could pay for what it needs.

He has not ruled out reinstituting tolls, either. The governor said he envisions a five-year "ramp up" followed by 25 years of construction, with the state adding busways, new rail service and major highway upgrades. He acknowledged that there will be opposition to any new spending proposals, but said nothing will improve until the state resolves to pay for what it needs.

"I didn't get re-elected to stand around and do what everybody else has done," he said.